REIMAGINING FAITH FORMATION FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY John Roberto

Part 1. Adaptive Challenges

4 Big Adaptive Challenges 1.Increasing diversity throughout American society in the length of the lifespan, in generational identities, in family structures and marriage patterns, and in the ethnic makeup of America 2.Rise of new digital technologies that are reshaping society, and the emergence of a connected, networked society 3.Dramatic changes and increasing diversity in the religious beliefs, practices, and affiliation of Americans 4.Decline in religious transmission from generation to generation

Adaptive Challenge 1: Diversity

We Are More Diverse

Generational Diversity Generational Differences  Relationship to Institutions  Relationship to Authority  Family Relationships  Work-Life Balance  Communication Style  Technology Usage  Learning Style  Religious Expression  Worship Style

Life Span Diversity

The 1950s FamilyThe 2010s Family Family Diversity

1. Married Couple with Children (original biological family) 2. Married Couple with Children (blended family) 3. Single Parent with Children 4. Unmarried Couple with Children 5. Unmarried Couple without Children 6. Same Sex Couple with Children (married or unmarried) 7. Same Sex Couple without Children (married or unmarried) 8. Grandparents & Parents with Children (3-generational) 9. Grandparents as Primary Caregivers 10. Parents with Single Young Adults Living at Home

Adaptive Challenge 2: Digital

Mobile Technologies

Social Networking Tools

Mobile Usage

 Mobile devices have fundamentally changed the relationship between information, time, & space.  Information is now PORTABLE, PARTICIPATORY, PERSONAL  Information will find you through social networking. “If news is important it will find its way to me.”  People turn to their social networks to help them evaluate new information they encounter.  People have become content creators – when they discover content they will share it with their broad network.  Reciprocal sharing is the way people build their social capital and reputations. Mobile Revolution

Adaptive Challenge 3: Religiosity

Religious Diversity

Youth (teens) AbidersAdapters AssentersAvoiders Atheists 20%20%31%24%5% Emerging Adults (20s) Committed Selected Spiritually Religiously Religiously Irreligious Traditionalists Adherents Open Indifferent Disconnected 15%30% 15% 25% 5% 10%

Adaptive Challenge 4: Religious Transmission  Declining importance of religion and religious practice  Declining levels of family religious transmission and faith practice at home

Religious Transmission “ Emerging adults who grew up with seriously religious parents are through socialization more likely (1) to have internalized their parents religious worldview, (2) to possess the practical religious know-how needed to live more highly religious lives, and (3) to embody the identity orientations and behavioral tendencies toward continuing to practice what they have been taught religiously. ”

“At the heart of this social causal mechanism stands the elementary process of teaching—both formal and informal, verbal and nonverbal, oral and behavioral, intentional and unconscious, through both instruction and role modeling. We believe that one of the main ways by which empirically observed strong parental religion produced strong emerging adult religion in offspring is through the teaching involved in socialization.” (Souls in Transition: The Religious & Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults by Christian Smith with Patricia Snell) Religious Transmission

Concluding Thought The world is now changing at a rate at which the basic systems, structures, and cultures built over the past century cannot keep up with the demands being placed on them. Incremental adjustments to how you manage and strategize, not matter how clever, are not up to the job. You need something very new to stay ahead in a age of tumultuous change and growing uncertainties. (John Kotter, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World

How do I get rid of the fear? Alas, this is the wrong question. The only way to get rid of the fear is to stop doing things that might not work, to stop putting yourself out there, to stop doing work that matters. No, the right question is, "How do I dance with the fear?" Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is the enemy. (Seth Godin)

Part 2. The New Ecosystem

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Buckminster Fuller

Holistic Faith & Formation  A way of the head (inform) demands a discipleship of faith seeking understanding and belief with personal conviction, sustained by study, reflecting, discerning and deciding, all toward spiritual wisdom for life.  A way of the heart (form) demands a discipleship of right relationships and right desires, community building, hospitality and inclusion, trust in God’s love, and prayer and worship.  A way of the hands (transform) demands a discipleship of love, justice, peace-making, simplicity, integrity, healing, and repentance. (Thomas Groome)

Eight Faith Forming Processes

Faith formation is developed around the eight faith forming processes—providing both a framework for a comprehensive curriculum with age groups, generations, and families; and the content—knowledge and practices—of the Christian faith.

A New Faith Forming Ecosystem

Intergenerational Community Intergenerational faith formation and whole community faith experiences are at the center of all faith formation networks, engaging all ages and generations in the life and events of church life and the Christian faith and participation in intergenerational faith experiences.

Intergenerational Community We invite people into the way of life that embodies God’s love, justice, compassion, and reconciliation, by being, doing, and thinking about it together. The best curriculum for forming children, youth, and anyone else in Christian faith is guided participation in a community of practice where people are vibrantly, passionately risking themselves together in lives of faith in a world crying out for the love of Christ. (Joyce Mercer)

Intergenerational Community Guided participation in a community of practice puts a premium on both participation and practice.... We become Christian, taking on the identity of one who is a disciple of Jesus, by acting the way Christians act, and by talking the way Christians talk. Over time through practice, even our hearts and minds are formed in this way of life. (Joyce Mercer)

Intergenerational Community  Caring: Community building activities, storytelling, mentoring, social events  Celebrating: Sunday Worship, whole community sacramental celebrations, milestones celebrations, church year feasts and seasons  Learning: Intergenerational learning programs (weekly, monthly, small group); incorporating intergenerational learning into age group programming  Praying: Community prayer experiences, intergenerational prayer groups, spiritual guides/mentors  Serving: Intergenerational service projects and mission trips, church-wide service days

Age Group Faith Formation Age group and generational faith formation addresses the unique life tasks, needs, interests, and spiritual journeys of people at each stage of life.

Family Faith Formation Congregations equip families to become centers of learning, faith growth, and faith practice in five ways: 1.Nurturing family faith at home through eight faith forming processes

Eight Faith Forming Processes

Family Faith Formation 2.Parent faith formation 3.Parenting for faith growth training 4.Parenting education 5.Building strong families by developing family assets: nurturing relationships, establishing routines, maintaining expectations, adapting to challenges, and connecting to the community.

Family Assets (Search Institute)

Missional Faith Formation Missional faith formation expands and extends the church’s presence through outreach, connection, relationship building, and engagement with people where they live— moving faith formation out into the community.  Moving worship and faith formation into the community  Opening programs to everyone – VBS  Life skills: parenting, careers, training, mentoring  Small group programs on a variety of topics  Community-wide service  Community events: arts, music, theater

yhouse The Wesley Playhouse

Service in the Community

A Third Place gathering space in the community, offers hospitality, builds relationships, hosts spiritual conversations, provides programs and activities, and nourishes the spiritual life of people.

Missional Faith Formation Missional faith formation provides pathways for people to consider or reconsider the Christian faith, to encounter Jesus and the Good News, and to live as disciples in a supportive faith community.

Pathway: The Alpha Course Introduction Dinner: Is there more to life than this? Week 1: Who is Jesus? Week 2: Why did Jesus die? Week 3: How can we have faith? Week 4: Why and how do I pray? Week 5: Why and how should I read the Bible? Week 6: How does God guide us? Week 7: How can I resist evil? Week 8: Why & how should we tell others? Week 9: Does God heal today? Week 10: What about the Church? Weekend: Who is the Holy Spirit?

Pathway: Our Lady of Soledad Parish  Mini-Retreat 101: “Catholics Alive!”  “What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?”  Mini-Retreat 201: “Alive and Growing Spiritually!”  Maturing in the Catholic faith  Mini-Retreat 301: “Alive and Gifted!”  Discerning how to serve God in ministry  Mini-Retreat 401: “Alive in the World!”  Living as witnesses for Christ, as contagious Catholic Christians  Mini-Retreat 501: “Alive to Praise God!”  Catholic worship and the sacraments

Pathway: Unbinding the Gospel Step One. Church Leader’s Study: Unbinding the Gospel Step Two: All-Church Saturation Study: Unbinding Your Heart: 40 Days of Prayer & Faith Sharing.  six-week, church-wide, small group E-vent!  pray each day’s scripture and prayer exercise and work with a prayer partner  study a chapter of the book with their small group  worship with sermons, music, and prayers centered on the week’s chapter

Pathway: Unbinding the Gospel Step Three: An Experiment in Prayer and Community: Unbinding Your Soul.  a no-obligation experience of substantial spiritual discussion, prayer and community for people who aren’t connected with a church  church members invite their friends into a four-week small group experience with short study chapters, an individual prayer journal, prayer partner activities, and group exercises.

Online & Digital Faith Formation Faith formation utilizes the digital technologies and digital media to engage people with faith forming content anytime, any place, just-in-time; and that can extend and expand faith formation in physical, face- to-face settings into people’s daily lives through digital content and mobile delivery systems.

Digitally-Enabled Faith Formation

Digital Platform Other Platforms

A New Faith Forming Ecosystem

Part 3. The Network & Curriculum

Learning in the 21 st Century A shift from education to learning anywhere, anytime. A shift from consumption of information to participatory learning. A shift from institutions to networks.

Learning in the 21 st Century  A shift from education to learning. Education is what institutions do, learning is what people do. Digital media enable learning anywhere, anytime; formal learning must be mobile and just in time.  A shift from consumption of information to participatory learning. A new system of learning must be peer-based and organized around learners’ interests, enabling them to create as well as consume information.  A shift from institutions to networks. In the digital age, the fundamental operating and delivery systems are networks, not institutions such as schools, which are a node on a young person’s network of learning opportunities. People learn across institutions, so an entire learning network must be supported.

21 st Century Learning What if learning adapted to each person instead of expecting each person to adapt to the school or the curriculum or the program?  Putting learners at the center  Enabling learners to be co-creators of their learning experiences  Connecting learning to life concerns and real world issues

Learning in a Network

Families with Children Faith Formation Network

Adult Faith Formation Network

Networked Faith Formation  Faith formation provides a variety of experiences, programs, activities, resources, and social connections that are available anytime and anywhere, in physical places and online spaces, and conducted in variety of settings—self-directed, mentored, at home, in small groups, in large groups, church-wide, in the community, and in the world.  Faith formation incorporates digital platforms (websites) that integrate all of the content (programs, activities, resources), connect people to the content and to each other, provides continuity for people across different learning experiences, and is available anytime, anywhere, anyplace, 24x7x365.  Faith formation integrates online and face-to-face learning, blending them in a variety of ways from online programs with minimal interaction in physical settings to programs in physical settings that utilize online content or extend the program using online content.

Personalized Learning & Faith Growth

Personalized pathways for discipleship & faith growth....  Guide people in discerning their religious and spiritual needs  Equip people with the resources and tools to learn and grow at their own pace  Provide mentoring and support for the journey Personalized Faith Formation

The Flow of Personalized Learning

Create expectations for participation in faith formation and church life by providing a seasonal/yearly growth plan with a variety of options for experiencing the Christian faith through community life. For example: 1. Sunday worship 2. Church year feasts and seasons 3. Service/mission projects 4. Retreat experience 5. Faith home, e.g. reading the Bible, praying, rituals, and more Personalizing with a Faith Growth Plan

Part 4. Design

Designing a Network: Content Areas 1. Caring Relationships 2. Celebrating the Seasons 3. Celebrating Rituals & Milestones 4. Learning the Christian Tradition 5. Praying & Spiritual Formation 6. Reading the Bible 7. Serving, Working for Justice, & Caring for Creation 8. Worshipping God 9. Missional 10. Life Issues 11. Life-Stage 12. Major Programs

Three Seasons of Programming Fall Season: September 1 – January 1 Winter/Spring Season: January 1 – May 1 Summer Season: May 1 – September 1

Current Activities & Programs New Activities & Programs Designing a Network: Programming

Whole Community Network

Families with Children Faith Formation Network

Children & Families Network

Family Faith Formation Network

Youth Faith Formation Network

Youth Network

Young Adult Faith Formation Network

Adult Faith Formation Network

Adult Faith Formation Network

Adult Faith Formation Network

Digital Platform Other Platforms

Digitally-Enabled Faith Formation

Gathered with Online Content A gathered program using online content from websites, videos from YouTube or other video sites, and blogs and other social media. With an abundance of high quality digital content, this first option is the easiest way to bring the digital world into a gathered program.

Gathered and Online Content Connecting church programs or events with online content that extends and deepens the experience through learning, prayer, ritual, action, etc.  Sunday worship & church year feasts and seasons  Intergenerational & family programs  Children, youth, and adult classes & programs  Extended programs: mission trips, retreat experiences, and vacation Bible school, summer camp

Gathered and Online Content

Example: Sunday Worship Church Life  Daily & Home Life  Online Life Experience of Worship in the Congregation Sunday worship and lectionary Church year feasts and seasons Church rituals: baptism, communion, funerals, etc. Experience of Sunday worship, rituals, and church year seasons in daily life Reflecting on the sermon and readings at home Practices: Lectio, etc. Application to daily living Online worship, church year, and lectionary resources on the church’s faith formation website Lectionary commentaries online Video reflections and commentary Online activities and projects

Example: 40-Day Lent Curriculum Church Life  Daily & Home Life  Online Life Ash Wednesday Lenten Sunday liturgies Stations of the Cross Lenten prayer Lenten retreat Lenten service Lenten soup suppers Fasting Praying Service/Almsgiving Lectionary reflection Family activities Lenten learning resources Lenten calendar Daily Lenten prayer Weekly table prayer Video resources Online retreat experience

Online and Gathered “Flip the classroom or program” by creating a digital platform to provide the content that people would learn in the gathered setting in an online learning space using print, audio, video, and more. And then transform the gathered program using interactive activities, discussion, project-based learning, and practice and demonstration.  Flip children’s programming: At home learning with parents (print, video, online); in-class application with activities, project-centered learning  Flip confirmation programming  Develop a online justice and service center

Flipped Classroom

Online Resource Centers

Mostly Online Offering opportunities for individuals, families, and small groups to utilize the digital platform as their primary learning setting and provide opportunities for regular interaction in face-to-face, gathered settings or in a web conference format, such as a Google+ Hangout.  Parent webinar programs delivered to parents at home in four- month semesters: three webinars followed by a parent gathering at church; three more webinars and concluding with a parent gathering at church.  Online learning resources for self-study or small group study, and gathering at the conclusion to share their insights with others who participated.  Online Bible study where groups can meet regularly in a physical setting or virtually through Skype or a Google+ Hangout for sharing their learning.  Selected online courses and activities from colleges, seminaries, and religious organization for individualized learning with the option for a mentor or small group gathering.

Google+ Hangout  Online Course, Small Group, Workshop, or 1-1 Mentoring  Broadcast a Presentation  Record the Presentation (YouTube)

Fully Online The rise of high quality and easily accessible online religious content—courses, activities, print and e-books, audio and video programs, and content-rich websites—has made designing online faith formation feasible.  Online Bible and theology courses, video programs, webinars for individual study  Online prayer and spirituality center where people can access daily prayer reflections and devotions, offer prayer intentions, pray for others, learn about spiritual practices, download prayer activities for the home  Online parent resource center with the best knowledge, practices, and tools for parenting (print, audio, video)  Online retreat experience

Part 5. Curation

Current Roles  Developing religious content  Designing programming  Managing programming  Teaching/Facilitating programming Emerging Roles  Designing learning environments— architecture  Curating religious content and experiences Emerging Roles

What is Content Curation (Beth Kanter) Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme.  The work involves sifting, sorting, arranging, and publishing information.  A content curator picks the best content that is important and relevant to share with their community.  It isn’t unlike what a museum curator does to produce an exhibition: They identify the theme, they provide the context, they decide which paintings to hang on the wall, how they should be annotated, and how they should be displayed for the public.

A Faith Formation Curator is a trusted guide who continually finds, groups, organizes, evaluates, and connects the best and most relevant content and experiences on a specific topic to match the needs of a specific audience. Faith Formation Curators

Curating Religious Content

Build a Curation Support System 1. Develop trusted expert curators to assist. 2. Develop a list of high quality online resource centers. 3. Subscribe to faith formation blogs and newsletters.

Curate with ReadKit - Mac & iOS

Curate with G2Reader - PC & Android

Curate with Social Bookmarking

Research Checklist 1. People: teachers, mentors/guides, program leaders, small group leaders, guest presenters 2. Community programs: churches, agencies, organizations, 3. Educational institutions: colleges, seminaries, educational organizations 4. Retreat and spiritual life centers, monasteries 5. Regional and national denominational programs, events, websites 6. Museums 7. Books (with study guides) & E-books 8. Apps 9. Audio podcasts & audio learning programs 10. Videos & Video learning programs 11. Online courses & online activities 12. Television shows 13. Organizational websites 14. Resource center websites

Evaluation Criteria Biblical content and interpretation Theological content and emphasis Developmental appropriateness Ethnic-Cultural appropriateness Inclusive of diversity Respect for diverse ways of learning Appearance and visual appeal Ease-of-Use Quality of Experience Applicable: Able to be incorporated into daily and home life

Curating Religious Content